No-Till Vs. Cleaner Water

Over the past 27 years, we’ve heard several times from Washington politicians that it’s once again time to clean up the nation’s waterways and water supplies. In fact, it happened again a few weeks ago when President Clinton issued orders to reduce costly water pollution.

During a Saturday morning radio address, he told federal agencies to adopt new strategies to safeguard rivers and other bodies of water. He also directed the Environmental Protection Agency to develop new ways to prevent pollution and to bring all governmental agencies into compliance with federal laws.

Farmers Will Be Involved

This initiative will include reducing farm pollution of lakes and streams, which is where the many benefits of no-till enter the picture. A key concept is non-point source pollution which officials say is pretty much under-regulated in the current Clean Water Act.

No-tillers should have nothing to fear with the passage of any new clear water rules since no-till helps hold both soils and chemicals in place within fields. And no-till is certainly less a threat to pollution on America’s farms than conventional tillage and minimum tillage practices.

In fact, Congressional passage of this clean water plan will definitely open the door for more no-tilled acres. Farmers and regulators will be seeking new ways to keep pollution under control and no-till will definitely be a “shining star” in solving agricultural pollution concerns.

New Interest In Washington

While Congress has not really been involved with the Clear Water Action Plan which Vice President Al Gore…

Frank Lessiter

Frank Lessiter has served as editor of No-Till Farmer since the publication was launched in November of 1972. Raised on a six-generation Michigan Centennial Farm, he has spent his entire career in agricultural journalism. Lessiter is a dairy science graduate from Michigan State University.

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